| Official Name: | Zgornja Kapla |
| Pushpin Map: | Slovenia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Traditional region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Styria |
| Subdivision Type2: | Statistical region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Carinthia |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Podvelka |
| Area Total Km2: | 13.87 |
| Population As Of: | 2002 |
| Population Total: | 200 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Coordinates: | 46.6299°N 15.3603°W |
| Elevation M: | 828.5 |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
Zgornja Kapla (in Slovenian pronounced as /ˈzɡoːrnja ˈkaːpla/) is a dispersed settlement in the hills north of the Drava River in the Municipality of Podvelka in Slovenia, on the border with Austria.[2]
The name Zgornja Kapla literally means 'upper Kapla', distinguishing the settlement from neighboring Spodnja Kapla (literally, 'lower Kapla'). Like other settlements named Kapla (e.g., Kapla in the Municipality of Tabor) and similar names (e.g., Kaplja vas, Kapljišče, and Železna Kapla in Austria), the name is derived from the Slovene common noun *kapla 'chapel' (< *kapela < MHG and OHG kappella < Latin cappella 'chapel'), referring to a local religious structure.[3]
Zgornja Kapla is the site of three known mass graves or unmarked graves associated with the Second World War. All of the victims were murdered in May 1945 by the Jože Lacko Detachment of the Partisan forces. The Zgornji Pavlič Mass Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče Zgornji Pavlič) is located in the woods about 100m (300feet) south of the Zgornji Pavlič farm (at Zgornja Kapla no. 16). It contains the remains of about 45 Hungarian civilians.[4] The Pušnik Chapel-Shrine Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče pri Pušnikovi kapeli) is located about 150m (490feet) northeast of the Kure farm (Zgornja Kapla no. 65). It contains the remains of a Slovene that was murdered because he had been mobilized into the German military.[5] The Sršen 3 Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče Sršen 3) lies on the edge of a woods about 130m (430feet) below the abandoned farm at Zgornja Kapla no. 57 and 200m (700feet) east of the Stojan farm. It contains the remains of a person murdered on suspicion of being an informant.[6]
The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Catherine and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It is first mentioned in written documents dating to 1389. The current building dates to after 1813, when the old church burned down.[7]